Weiss Urban Livability Fellows 07-08

School's out for the summer

2008-05-07T13:56:00.004-04:00

It has been a tremendous learning experience...getting to know each of you- your interests and talents and idiosyncracies (we all have them, let's be honest), broadening my understanding of the many fields of study we represent, appreciating community in a new way because of our service projects, and generally celebrating the honor and joy of learning full-time.

Another thing I appreciate about this experience is the role of kindness in urban livability. It didn't take much time, once you all heard of my sister's health condition, to respond with a note of support and then greet me with kindness when we met again. I am grateful for this, and am reminded of the critical role that kindness plays in making any space livable and thriving. Thanks to Michael for his example and to each of you for making this experience such a blessing.

With love,

Erin

Durham Food Bank

2008-04-27T09:25:00.002-04:00

The Weiss Fellows went to the Durham Food Bank on Friday April 19th. We took a tour of the food bank which sadly was low on fresh produce and freezer meat, especially during this time of year when there are no holiday donations. We learned that the food bank is part of several state and federal food programs that are required to give out food with a certain type of nutritional value. For example, if the food bank receives donations of soda cans, they are required to give out only diet soda since it does not have empty calories in the way regular soda does - the regular soda can be sold at a regular price. While we visited the Food Bank, our job was to sort the sodas because they do not come pre-sorted into diet and regular.

Food from all over the state accumulates at the food bank (through corporate donors, grocery stores, individual donations, and sometimes state and federal donations). Organizations like church groups, community service driven operations, or shelters come to purchase the food in bulk at a rate that covers the operating cost of the food bank - the food itself is free. We also learned that individual families come straight to the food bank for help and the food bank provides them with a starter supply of food so they don't leave hungry. Another way food gets to the public is through the state programs such as an after school program for children whose only meal in the day is probably the one they eat at school. The food bank fills up their bag packs with food for the weekend.

I decided to go with volunteering at the Durham Warehouse Food Bank idea for a number of reasons- for coherence in our project and because it focuses on a different population than the shelter food we will be preparing for Lindsey's part of the project and because it serves both adults and children who are part of low income families who for the most part have residences, as opposed to people served by the kitchen-shelter which are mostly men (because it's a men's shelter).

Information about the beneficiaries of the food bank are as follows:

48% of households served by the Food Bank have one or more working adults in the household

49% of those served by the Food Bank are children

11% of people served by the Food Bank are elderly

In the 34 counties served by the Food Bank, there are more than 400,000 people at risk of hunger.

Immigration Community Conference: recap

2008-04-26T22:22:00.003-04:00

On April 6, the Weiss Fellows helped run a community conference on immigration issues, a conference that we have been directly involved with for several months now. The conference was entitled Community Impacts of Local Policy Responses to Undocumented Immigration and was held on a Sunday afternoon at the FedEx Global Education Center here in Chapel Hill. The conference drew about 150 people and received positive press coverage in periodicals such as the "Taking a Hard Look at a Tough Problem" in the Herald-Sun.

North Carolina is the state with the fastest growing Latino population in the United States. A portion of this population consists of undocumented immigrants. The United States has been grappling with immigration issues in recent years, but with failure of comprehensive national immigration reform in the summer of 2007 immigration issues have become increasingly localized. In a state like North Carolina with a fast growing Latino and immigrant populations, these issues are even more prevalent.

The main focus of the immigration conference was on the use of several counties in North Carolina of the 287(g) clause of the 1996 federal Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. According to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) website: 287(g) "authorizes the secretaty of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, permitting designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions, pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), provided that these officers receive appropriate training and function under the supervision of sworn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers." What this means is that counties can enter into agreements with DHS that allows state and local law enforcement officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions including determining immigration status and beginning the deportation process.

As of this spring five counties in North Carolina have agreements with the Department of Homeland Security that allows designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions. These counties are: Alamance County, Mecklenberg County, Cabarrus County, and Gaston County. Wake, Henderson, and Cumberland Counties are pursuing agreements with DHS. North Carolina, it is safe to say, is leading the country with the local enforcement of federal immigration laws.

The conference was initiated to bring a greater focus to these issues and recent developments within the state. Despite its somewhat prevalent use, the 287(g) program is often difficult to understand. When promoted, it is typically couched as a way to deport criminals who are also illegal immigrants. However, when it comes to its implementation, 287(g) is often used during routine traffic stops or even more benign situations. This Raleigh News and Observer article: "Traffic Charges Can Bring Deportation" provides a decent overview to the complexities of these issues.

As far as the conference went, I thought it was very valuable to learn more about immigration issues in the United States and North Carolina. Most of the participants and audience members seemed to be sympathetic to the difficulties faced by the immigrant population. It probably would have been even more helpful to have some presenters who were advocates of the 287(g) program. A continuing dialogue on the appropriate policy responses to undocumented immigration is essential. With even more counties set to implement 287(g) the local enforcement of federal immigration laws will only become a more prominent and prevalent issue. An examination of the the full ramifications of these kinds of programs is certainly warranted and needed.

Earth Action Day!

2008-04-23T09:35:00.004-04:00

These days, and particularly this week, being green is the hip thing to do. However, I like to think that the Weiss Fellas were hip far before our time. A few of us have never owned a car, many bike as their chosen form of transportation and even I, with my very-unhip SUV, made it an entire week without driving. It seems fitting, then, that our final event of the semester be Earth Action Day.

On Saturday, the Weiss Fellows will be pitching in to help make Earth Action Day great. We will be directing traffic, helping with performance art and generally guiding visitors to the Plaza to the variety of booths, activities and vendors.

So why this project? The answer is two fold. First, one of our complaints/frustrations/challenges as first year graduate students, many of whom are not North Carolinians, is that we didn't know where to start in Chapel Hill. Working with Wes from Parks and Rec for Earth Action Day starts a relationship between the Weiss Fellows and the Town of Chapel Hill that we hope can be sustained by future generations. Second, it combines elements of all of our interests. Jes Speed lit up at the opportunity to work with tiny earth ballerinas. Jess Lewis is excited to work with vendors. For the rest of us, interested in community building, local government or environmental issues, Earth Action Day also serves us. It even gives Audrey the opportunity to reconnect with Earth Day, which she used to organize in high school!

It is my hope that Earth Action Day both demonstrate our dedication to the environment and finding solutions that are practical and sustainable (another very hip idea), but that also begins to build an individual and group relationship with the town that sustains our university. Look for pictures on Sunday!

My Lasagna project

2008-04-23T08:59:00.002-04:00

The project I organized for the Weiss fellowship was to arrange for our group to cook lasagnas for the men's shelter and community kitchen in Chapel Hill. This project stemmed from a desire to undertake a project that would be benificial to our (very) local community and that would provide a concrete benefit. I also chose this project because I enjoy cooking and food is meaningful, it helps build communities.

I corresponded with the kitchen manager to determine desired and appropriate foods, he emphasized that our food should be soft, not contain any cooking wine and not be anything to exotic. Our group decided on lasagna as an ideal casserole. We filled our lasagna with vegetables such as spinach, peppers, onions, garlic and mushrooms, as well as turkey meat and the standard cheeses and tomato sauce. We focused on making our lasagna a nutritionally complete meal in itself.

The project was done in two shifts to accomodate the schedules of the group members. Our group met at my house and cooked and assembled two lasagnas which we baked and then took to the kitchen the next day (because lasagna is one of the few foods that improves with reheating). The second group cooked and delivered theirs a few days later and I believe in total we provided 6 full large pans of lasagna, enough for the 100 men the kitchen feeds every night to share a meal.

Carolina for Kibera

2008-04-03T12:46:00.002-04:00

At our last meeting the speaker was Neha Singh, in addition to being a graduate student in the school of Public Health here at UNC she is involved in Carolina for Kibera and spent last summer living in Naroibi and working in Kibera. She described to the Weiss fellers the living conditions of those individuals in Kibera. Kibera is one of the largest slums in the world, there's no electricity (except for that stolen from the golf course next door) and residents are literally living on top of garbage with open sewer lines in the "streets".

The reason that the slum occurred is that there are housing rules in Nariobi which has created rents that many of the poor cannot afford. Since technically it's illegal to live in Kibera the rents are much cheaper, and poor people can afford to live there. Due to the poor living conditions etc there's violence in Kibera, some of which is amongst the different ethnic groups, crime and just generally unsafe living conditions.

The new president is making some attempt to deal with the situtaion by building apartments right next to Kibera, but because it's sanctioned housing the rents will be too high, and they aren't building nearly enough housing for all of the residents of Kibera.

She also described some of what CFK does in Kibera, including unclogging sewer lines, working in clinics, supporting community developments etc.

From weisser Lindsey comes this film

Urban School Funding

2008-04-03T12:22:00.004-04:00

One of my primary research interests is the difference in funding between urban and suburban school districts, and how this could help to explain some of the differences in child performance. This video from a segment on the Oprah Winfrey show provides a stark illustration of the differences that funding can produce in schools.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEczvyM3Boc&feature=related

Related to that is the way that school districts spend their dollars. For the upcoming school year the new Baltimore City school superintendent is planning to radically change the way that school funding is done in the city. Essentially at the moment the central office makes all decisions vis a vis teaching hiring, supplies etc. and principals have about 90/student in discretionary spending. In the new budget those decisions will be transfered to the individual principles and they will have 5500 in funding to spend per student (or more 5500 is the baseline). It will be interesting to see if these changes have an actual positive impact on the schools.

Immigration Community Conference: April 6, 2008

2008-03-31T01:19:00.005-04:00

what: Examining the Impacts of Local Policy Responses to Undocumented Immigration

when: 12:30 to 6:00 pm, Sunday - April 6, 2008

where: Global Education Center, Chapel Hill

free and open to the public - free parking available

click here for directions

The Institute for the Study of the Americas, The Center for Global Initiatives, and the Chapel Hill Institute for Culture and Language Education (CHICLE), present the Community Conference: Examining the Impacts of Local Policy Responses to Undocumented Immigration. The community conference will kick-off a four part series of Sunday afternoon discussions in April entitled: "Immigration: Asking the Hard Questions."

Participants from UNC Chapel Hill, the UNC School of Law Immigration / Human Rights Policy Clinic, Elon University, the NC American Civil Liberties Union, and the NC Justice Center will examine the following questions: in the wake of failed federal immigration reform, how are law enforcement agencies, state, and local policy makers in North Carolina responded to undocumented immigration? How is deportation being used as a solution to undocumented immigration in North Carolina counties, and what is its impact in communities in Alamance and Mecklenburg County?

The Community Conference will feature a film screening of Al Otro Lado, a 2005 documentary about immigration and drug trafficking through the lens of Mexico's 200-year-old tradition of corrido music. Sponsors of the event include El Centro Latino, El Pueblo, CITCA, CALDO, the Institute for Southern Studies, and the NC Council of Churches.

For more information see the UNC Institute for the Study of the Americas and CHICLE. The event program is available here.

The Weiss Fellows will be providing volunteer support for staffing this conference as will as assisting with conference planning and logistics.

Alamance

2008-03-29T15:12:00.005-04:00

Today, five Fellers headed out to Alamance County to learn a little more about the towns that are nearby. After learning about 287g and the immigration issues that Alamance seems to be having, we certainly had developed a particular perception of Alamance without ever having been there. We decided a field trip was in order, so we headed out on this rainy and overcast Saturday morning to visit the county next door. We first stopped in Mebane, a very small little town near the Alamance/Orange line. Today was supposed to be the second day of their annual "Spring Shoppers' Stroll" through the downtown, but the rain moved the sidewalk festivities indoors. We then headed to nearby Graham, wandering around its downtown for a little while before stopping in for lunch at the Graham Soda Shop. It was certainly an enjoyable day, and I think that we'll all do a better job of venturing into the places nearby in the future. We talked about the importance of getting out of the Chapel Hill/Carrboro (even Raleigh and Durham) areas and into what might be a little more representative of the rest of this very large state.

It was very interesting for me to ride down NC 54 with planners, an environmentalist, and a social worker. Not only was the conversation interesting (generally); everyone had various insights to offer as we saw different developments popping up. It's really neat to listen to how others' areas of study and research influence the things that they notice when driving down the highway. I played camera woman today; the Fellers were relatively patient with me as I snapped photos of them and the things that we encountered along the way.

The above photo is in downtown Mebane, where we started our journey.

One of the fellers in front of the Mebane newspaper.

There is a very large mural painted on the side of one of the buildings in downtown Mebane; we had to get a closer look.

A few Fellers in front of the Mebane Mural in downtown Mebane.

Just outside of "downtown" Graham.

Two of the Fellers in downtown Mebane; we were deciding our next move.

This is downtown Graham; it looks as if they've very recently updated the downtown traffic square (the signs confirmed this, stating that the work had been completed in 2007). Downtown Graham is much bigger than downtown Mebane, but still has the same "charm" that Mebane seems to have. The people who we encountered in both towns were quite nice, informative, and friendly. In both towns, too, we heard that folks from Alamance are nicer than folks from Orange.

Fortunately, our visit to Alamance was relatively uneventful. The very large building in downtown Graham (the country seat) was, from what we could gather, the Sheriff's Department. It was closed on this rainy Saturday.

There were plenty of promises for home cooked food in Graham and Mebane; this sign caught my eye as we walked underneath it. We went back to the Graham Soda Shop (nearby) for "the famous" Alamance cheese dogs...

Coleslaw, chili, onions, ketchup and mustard inside a hot dog bun, with melted cheese! No hot dogs in these buns... they were pretty yummy. Sweet potato fries, too. We all finished our lunches.

Despite our best efforts, we very much enjoyed ourselves and our visit to Alamance. (Meant tongue-in-cheek, of course!) We've learned a lot from each other this semester, but we've also learned that we actually get along quite well and are a bunch of rather strange and fun people. I'm glad that Jess, Erin, and Michael were adventurous enough to go along with Marc's and my half-baked field trip plan into some new-to-us neighboring towns.

We totally got caught taking a picture of Jess by this fancy car (by the owners). They offered to take a picture of all of us. : )

And that was our day in Alamance County! We certainly only "got our toes wet" in terms of learning about the county, but it was good for us to get out of Chapel Hill for a little while and to wander around two small towns that are part of the very diverse county that we've all heard so much about this year.

Greetings

2008-03-25T15:55:00.004-04:00

Hi 2007-2008 Weiss Fellows, this is Mike Woolley, former Weiss Fellow and current faculty member in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. This blog idea is fabulous and I have enjoyed reading about some of the very interesting issues you all have been having presentations about and the stimulating discussions that have ensued. I have a couple brief comments. First, I applaud the discussion on race and Erin's comments, I wondered if the training you did Erin was with someone from the People's Institute out of New Orleans, they are fabulous and I highly recommend everyone to seek out the opportunity to do one of their trainings about race. Maybe that should be Weiss-organized activity each year at UNC. Similarly, I participated in a "Middle Passage Experience" which takes participants through a little of what it was like being captured and brought across the ocean as a slave during the slave trade, very powerful for me as a white American, and I highly recomend that as well. Finally, as a new resident of Chicago (I spent my first 4 years out of UNC at the University of Michigan, this is my first year here at UofC), I wanna live in the new Spire...but as an academic I will probably not be able to afford it...

A More Perfect Union

2008-03-18T23:24:00.005-04:00

Whether they support Barack or not, everyone should watch or read this speech and then talk about it with as many people as they know.

now this is an intersection...

2008-03-17T22:21:00.002-04:00

Buenos Aires, Argentina - some would say more like a race track than an intersection

After we build it, what if we don't want them to come?

2008-03-03T21:42:00.002-05:00

It seems that the post from last week's meeting may have been eaten by the BlogMonster that shut us down, so I'm reposting the recap to open up the floor to comments about my impersonation of a presentation...Many thanks to Professor Burby for entrusting me with his slideshow.

In short, we spoke about the unintended consequences that arise when containment policies are implemented separately or perhaps without consideration of hazard mitigation issues. Containment can be a natural or legal phenomenon, but establishes a barrier beyond which building cannot occur. In some cities, this has not been overly problematic, but in places like Baltimore, Los Angeles and New Orleans, somewhat dire consequences have occurred as a result.

Specific to New Orleans, the natural containment between Lake Ponchartrain and the Mississippi River coupled with technology enabling the drying out of formerly uninhabitable land and Federal projects resulting in the construction of the I-10 twinspan bridge created the perfect recipe for disaster. We saw first hint with Betsy in 65 and had a harsh reminder in 2005 as Katrina topped the levees and flooded the Crescent City, resulting in the most costly natural disaster to date. The area of New Orleans East, a natural cypress swamp without intervention, is an unfortunate example of how containment can compound the impact of natural disaster.

Because you all sat through my presentation once, I chose to just do an overview here, deciding instead to pose some questions to you, my multi-talented fellow fella's:

1. Getting past Katrina, that heartbreaking hurricane, how do we make better policy in the future that COMBINES planning and mitigation, rather than operating in policy silos?
2. What about emergency/disaster management are those of us from my angle just not seeing? What interdisciplinary approaches can you all provide?
3. How does disaster/emergency management and mitigation fit into urban livability, particularly in light of my comments that Storrs, CT is the least likely place for a natural disaster. My comment was not intended to make fun of the location of my sibling's choice of school, but to highlight that natural disasters are perennial and non-discriminatory, at least in striking. Given this, how do we make them less of an issue?
4. During our discussion, issues of equity and accessibility were raised. What other major American issues did Katrina reveal?

I should note, any brilliant ideas may become part of my dissertation.

Pop quiz: Which social "activist" type are you?

2008-03-02T14:44:00.009-05:00

Jes's recent post on personal vs. political reminded me of the Movement Action Plan (MAP) - a progressive guide to creating social change with a breakdown of four activist "types" that each play a role in promoting change. (You can read more about Bill Moyer, the man behind the MAP concept, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Moyer)

The four activist roles include: Citizen, Reformer, Rebel, and Change Agent.

Here's a diagram that shows what each type of activist is all about. (If you click on it, you can blow it up to actually read it!):

I like that "citizen" is included in there, probably for reason's similar to Jes's comment below, "of COURSE the personal is political." I think this diagram sort of "un-demonizes" activism, showing that "activist" does not necessarily imply someone who is promoting an extremist view. From the standpoint of the Fellers, if our goal is urban livability, and to that end, social change is necessary, then it is easy and perhaps necessary to take the leap from being a "concerned citizen" to being an engaged "activist" without being radical.

In thinking about our discussions of Urban Livability so far, and also in our individual academic specializations or career fields, I'm curious where each of us Fellers would place ourselves on this diagram, and why. Has your perspective changed since joining the Fellers? Do you hope to play a different "role" in your future career?

Sandbag Homes

2008-03-02T14:29:00.005-05:00

Award-Winning Sandbag Shelters

After the horrific earthquake in Bam, Iran (we mentioned it during our last meeting), there was a push to improve emergency preparedness and multiple proposals were put forward. One of the most meritorious proposals for the project was using local building materials for residential homes that would sustain earthquake shocks of a certain scale. As you know sandbags are incredibly flexible, even more so than wood, or any traditional building material. The sandbag homes are fairly inexpensive, and quick to build and can be finished in a variety of styles. They can be built as small shelters or as large-scale houses. Pictured here is a sandbag home that has been finished with plaster – which both looks aesthetically pleasing (can be made spaciously, and plays the important role of inexpensive disaster preparedness. Other finishes have been adobe style, which are popular in rural areas. I think these are rather ingenious for the region and can probably be used in other regions of the world.

These pictures are from archnet.org

For more info, you can look at this link:
http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=8219

Can I Get a Ride?

2008-02-29T09:10:00.002-05:00

According to a recent NPR report, "Growth and Transportation," the Triangle population will increase by 120,000-150,000 people within the next ten years, as "one of the fastest growing metro areas" in the country. The specific area of concern is Raleigh, where the current transportation system is predicted to collapse if burdened with the aforementioned population growth. What are Triangle planners saying about this potential fiasco?

Mitchell Silver, Raleigh's Director of Planning, hopes to ease some of this burden by linking Raleigh to Chapel Hill by transit by 2020. Although one can travel between these two places now using the TTA system, it is far from being an express ride.

Another suggestion is to follow the example of Charlotte, whose citizens actually agreed to a tax increase in order to support a rail system. More than one planner seems to agree that Charlotte is home to some serious promising practices relative to transit solutions.

Suggestions vary from placing streetcars in downtown Raleigh and absorbing the population growth, to a downright refusal of allowing this growth to occur. The latter group seems to argue, "If you build it, they will come...so stop building."

I'm interested to know the thoughts of you Fellows who know much more than I about Urban Planning and Transportation. Do you foresee an addition of more than 100,000 people to the Triangle as having the potential to bring about a transportation collapse?

Last, if water shortage continues at this rate or worsens, I'm not sure that the transit system will even be our top priority in 2020.

The Personal is/as Political

2008-02-25T16:39:00.003-05:00

I spent this afternoon finishing up Robert B. Reich's Supercapitalism, which was a very interesting and provocative read. His argument is that "democratic capitalism" no longer exists; "supercapitalism" completely overpowers democratic processes, leaving most of us - as both citizens and consumers/investors - in a tricky double-bind. Tracking through the progress of capitalism's steam-roll into "super" status, Reich clearly articulates the "double-mindedness" that we have about capitalism's success over democracy. On one hand, supercapitalism gives us - as investors/consumers - enormous power in determining business decisions, shopping decisions, etc. As Americans have progressively gotten better at "finding the good deal," we have gained great power over corporations' financial standings and financial choices. On the other hand, supercapitalism means that most large corporations end up making financial decisions that override the democratic process, acting more as "corporate citizens" than as corporate entities regulated by governmental policy. "The result has been a clamor of competing business interests - a cacophony so loud as to almost drown out any serious deliberation about the public good" (143). Reich argues that we have the agency to make consumer choices, but that certain restraints apply: not having enough income, for example, to afford to shop anywhere other than the large-box retailers (namely, Wal-Mart); unwillingness to make personal financial sacrifices to pay more for goods that are ethically manufactured; making "citizenship" decisions that do not support our consumer/investor best interests; vice-versa, and so on. At the end of the day, it is the consumer-as-citizen, or the citizen-as-consumer, that must somehow rise to change and create a political steam-roller large enough to force regulatory actions on corporations.

Throughout my reading of this book, the common mantra of second-wave feminisms ran through my mind: "The personal is political..." I often have knee-jerk reaction to that phrase, thinking that while the personal is certainly political, it is not enough to change The Political Situation. After reading Supercapitalism, I think Reich might agree with me.

"So," you ask; "what does this have to do with urban livability?"

Well - here's the thing: throughout our time together, we have spoken about, listened to, and blogged about issues relating to small and large choices that we as dwellers in, advocates of, and researchers invested in urban issues care about. As individuals, we can choose to ride our bicycles, recycle, grow container gardens, support local farmers (by buying our produce from them), etc. These are all personal choices, and they may or may not also be political choices. I am certainly in a position of privilege, because I live close enough to school and work that I can safely and feasibly ride my bike on a regular basis. I have the luxury of (at least a little tiny bit) of time to spend preparing meals from fresh produce. Recycling is free in my neighborhood. These are "citizenship" choices that reflect my political leanings, but relatively easy ones (and relatively inconsequential ones when written across a larger picture).

If we're going to take an active stance for anything, we've got to put the democratic system to use and raise collective voices as citizens fighting for rights for the public good. This starts (as you'd expect me to suggest, by this point) with dialogue.

For this, and many other reasons, I am very excited about the Weiss Fellows' upcoming participation in the Community Conference that will be held on April 6, which is attempting to bring together members of the campus community, those involved in the political arena, and members of the local non-campus communities from Orange and its adjoining counties to discuss issues related to immigration and immigration policy in this area. The hoped-for result, only reachable through dialogue and dialogic participation, is a small campaign of policy letters to sent to our local, state, and national representatives.

There will be more information about that to come.

I'm anxious to see what and how the Weiss Fellows continue to make personal and political choices and progress in our ever-ongoing quest in, with, and through issues of "urban livability."

La Haine

2008-02-25T15:27:00.004-05:00

At our last meeting, the Fellow/as watched the movie La Haine (Hate), released in 1995 in French. Our own Lindsey West led the discussion following the film, and offered insight into a anthropological perspective of livable cities. She explained that La Haine was the first movie to talk about suburbs on outskirts of paris, although similar suburbs are outside other cities in

France. The film offered a startling, terrifying portrait of life inside these suburbs, where hate and conflict with the police are ubiquitous. As Lindsey explained, these neighborhoods, or “venues”, were built to house Algerian guestworkers (after WW2 to supply labor for rebuilding after the war)… now, are essentially slums. Some are still state-run, although they suffer sever deficiencies in public services, such as a lack of public transit.

The violence in the neighborhoods is severe--Lindsey estimated that 80 cars/month are burned in France, and even more during periods of unrest. A substantial policy concern is the ghettoization of these immigrant neighborhoods. Frequently, the only people in charge of keeping peace in the neighborhoods are religious organizations, Lindsey mentioned. For anthropologists watching the film, the interactions between people and authority is especially interesting--for example, the youths in the film were treated very respectfully by police in Paris, but in their suburban community, they were treated contemptibly by the police. France has a "vibrant protest culture" which this film magnified to a very intimate level.

Much of our discussion explored immigration problems. In France, we talked about how not only immigrants face unemployment. Based on French legislation, it is very hard to fire employees, so fewer young people get jobs, resulting in a 20 to 30% unemployment rate for youth, and an 8% unemployment rate for country. We also expressed concern over continuing problems with antisemitism in France, and the confusion of anti-immigrant and anti-semitic feelings in France.

Several diverse thoughts about the movie were shared, including:

The main characters were very young, but acted like men
Perhaps the problems in the film are not so different than problems in other countries, even in the U.S. However, there didn’t seem to be so much violence between individuals in the suburbs [it was mostly with the police], compared to in U.S.
There were many similarities between U.S. immigration issues and immigration issues in other countries, like France.
After the movie was released, people felt empowered. For example, a dance group formed that gives profits to political groups that work on immigrant rights.
Similarities and differences to the housing projects in the 1950s/1960s in the U.S. included:

There is no movement in France to blow up housing buildings and change them, even though many seemed quite rundown.
The French government built youth centers, which are no longer used for their intended purposes.

France and the U.S. have very different justice systems. For example, Lindsey explained that you can be searched without a warrant in France. Does this perhaps imply that the French do not strive for absolute equal treatment of individuals?

We were all very interested in brainstorming ideas about what could be done to attempt to address the type of fundamental and violent problems that La Haine showcased. Perhaps any movement for change would necessitate bottom up action, or a politician from the immigrant community, or more representation of immigrant communities in the political system, or pressure from the European Union.

a car-free, solar city?

2008-02-24T12:02:00.005-05:00

There seems to be no shortage of ideas for new cities out there, but this one is a little surprising. One of the newest innovations, according to a report by the New York Times, is for the construction of a 2.3 square mile city encased by walls that will exist without cars and powered solely by the sun. Perhaps surprisingly, this city will be created in the United Arab Emirates, in the center of the energy producing world.

Masdar City is being designed by Foster+Partners of London. That is Norman Foster who gave the world London's gherkin skyscraper. It is what should be a very interesting experiment. The city will be just slightly smaller than historic Venice, a comparison the designers and financiers will no doubt hope will be made regularly. The city evokes a utopian vision where: "Water will flow from a solar-powered seawater-desalinization plant. Produce will come from nearby greenhouses, and all waste will be composted or otherwise recycled."

There is more information available on this project in the Times dot-Earth blog, but it would probably be helpful to remember that the U.A.E. is also the country that produced a series of artificial islands in the Arabian Gulf that from the air looks like a map of the world. Grandiose architectural vision is in no short supply.

Northside Neighborhood Articles

2008-02-19T01:29:00.005-05:00

Here are websites to some of the articles I have gathered – some of them are print only so I can’t reproduce them here (Note, some of the links need to be pasted into the browser because I had to cut them to fit here)

1. Firstly, the Town of Chapel Hill’s website on the Northside Neighborhood as a Conservation District:
http://www.ci.chapel-hill.nc.us/index.asp?NID=809

2. Letter to the editor to the Daily Tar Heel complaining about crimes in the area:
http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/
news/2007/12/05/LettersToTheEditor/Crime.In.The.Northside
.Neighborhood.Is.Common-3132294.shtml
Although this is just one example of the Daily Tar Heel’s letters to the editor, there is a clear dichotomy set up between the University’s students/outsiders to the community – and the community itself, which has had numerous parties (some from UNC were not looked upon favorably) in the past attempt to revive/revamp the area.

3. Blogs about making the community safer:
http://greenespace.blogspot.com/2007/08/northside-night-out.html

4. Here’s a DTH article about “locals” taking action themselves.
http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/
news/2001/02/05/UndefinedSection/Locals.Act.To.Clean.Up
.Northside-1341551.shtml
5. This article is about fear that a new development of condos would take away from the community’s established atmosphere and would destroy the traditionally black neighborhood’s historical significance – Some of the Print articles I have describe in a more detailed way some of the racial issues surrounding both the preservation and attempts at renovation to the area.
http://www.newsobserver.com/161/story/546772.html

6. This article about UNC’s own expansion. As the University’s presence grows some community residents, especially from Northside have reservations about how the expansion will affect them:
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A15384

7. According to this article, the Northside Neighborhood is considered to be the birthplace of Chapel Hill’s civil rights movement. The article is about one particular resident of Northside who has been active in bringing forward issues of concern of Northside residents to Chapel Hill’s mayor’s office.
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A20569

9. At this link we have minutes from some planning meetings regarding the neighborhood that may be of interest to us:
http://townhall.townofchapelhill.org/planning/HCD/
Neighborhood%20Initiatives/Northside,%20Sykes%
20Street%20Neighborhood/Upcoming%20Events.htm

Given all of these articles and more that I have in print with me, our group realized that we don’t want to start a project from scratch to contribute to the numerous unfulfilled promises/projects to the Northside Neighborhood by UNC students and others. Instead we would like to plug ourselves into existing projects that we hope will affect the Northside community as well as other areas of our surroundings.

Hate...reconsidered

2008-02-12T19:17:00.000-05:00

Perhaps it's the rain, but I have "Hate" in my head today. Beyond the graphic images of struggle and frustration in yet another urban ghetto is this concept of isolation that I continue to think about.

We seem to have a tendency, perhaps a human tendency, to isolate those who don't look like us or practice our religion or live like us. We've done it in housing projects, through de facto structures like those "overturned" by Brown v Board of Ed, through laws about whether a religion can be practiced by a public employee at work. As we flesh out our project in the Northside neighborhood, this idea of isolation seems incredibly salient. As other fellas have remarked, Northside and Broad Street in Carrboro are the neighborhoods that other Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents don't talk about. People raised in Chapel Hill either avoid or ignore Northside, taught from a young age that people different and therefore less desirable live there. But will our project help to break down these invisible barriers? And should it?

Having never lived in a housing project or otherwise separate community, I rely on anecdotes about the pride, the sense of belonging that accompanies that knowledge that you don't belong with everyone else. Is it just an assumption of those of us included in the mainstream that everyone would want to belong to the mainstream? I think of Hubert, whose eyes just cried out for something different, for something outside of the concrete fortress he grew up in. Would it have been valuable for Hubert to seize an opportunity to step out facilitated by someone like me or does the true value lie in becoming independent and included on one's own terms?

Google Street View

2008-02-12T17:40:00.000-05:00

Today Google added "Street View" for the Triangle area.It looks like it covers pretty much all of Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh and RTP. Just use Google Maps to find a location as you normally would, then click the "Street View" link for a panoramic, draggable, street-level view -- just like you're standing there. Any street bordered by the blue lines is included in this view. It's pretty fun to explore.....

For example, here is the Graduate Student Center....

View Larger Map

Some interesting images have now been preserved for posterity (e.g. this poor couple having car trouble across the street from the Grad. Student Center.)

Northside art exhibit

2008-02-12T09:15:00.001-05:00

On Friday I went to the Hidden Voices Art Exhibit in the Carrboro Art Center. The exhibit showed pictures of the history of the Northside and West Franklin neighborhoods expereinces and struggles with Civil Rights, it was well presented and well attended. I learned a lot about this area that I live in. The legacy of segregation is mapped onto the land here in more ways than I knew, and I thought I had been getting a sense of it. We will hopefully be working with the group to get markers for the walking tour they have created of historically important sites in the area which would be rad. It was also interesting to learn about the influence of the University in these neighborhoods historically, influence that was not always positive.

Democracy or Delegatocracy?

2008-02-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, I must admit that I am a bit of a political novice since this is the first time I have really watched a primary this closely. However, this will be the fourth presidential election I will vote in (yes, I am almost 30), and this is the only time I can remember having the primary still be relevant this late in the season. Last election, there was an incumbent president on the republican side, and it seemed like Kerry kind of took over after Iowa for the Democrats and never looked back on his way to the nomination. I know Bush and McCain fought hard in New Hampshire in 2000, but my impression was Rove took care of (dirty) business in South Carolina, and W was never really threatened after that

This year, the democrats have a heated battle, and I am glad to really like both candidates. Having voted in Illinois before this election, which is never a swing state, I am excited to be registered in North Carolina, as our primary may be the one to decide it all. However, I have been very surprised to learn that the delegates are not proportioned out equally based on votes/caucuses. In fact, the system is so confusing, that it is hard to even tell who is ahead. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about the New York Times does a decent job of explaining it.

And what is up with the superdelegates? I heard they were enacted to be sure the party had representation from someone they believed in, and it was enacted after George McGovern received the nomination in 1972. Still, does it strike anyone as weird that Bill Clinton gets to be a superdelegate since his wife is running. Does anyone think it would be funny for the political world to try to establish an anti-nepotism rule for elections? I do.

I simply feel weird that it is not completely in the voters' hands to decide who gets nominated, especially since the system is very different than in the general election, not that the electoral college makes much sense either.

Someone else told me that primary voting is a relatively recent thing. It used to be argued about during conventions where political power brokers essentially decided who we, the American public, got to vote for. If there is any sign that the two party system is insufficient, this may be it.

Still, I guess it is the system we have to use. Maybe one of this year's fellers can help explain the rationale to me. I know we have some political junkies out there...

Dan Kimberg- Master of the To-Do List

2008-01-30T11:14:00.000-05:00

What's your stance on to-do lists? Would you rather carefully note short-term goals, and mark them off with a flourish upon completion? Perhaps you would just rather get things done, believing the list to be an added burden to your workload?

Whatever the case, to-do lists can have magical results: at least in the case of Dan Kimberg. Monday evening, we discussed with this impressive changebroker the success that has been yielded by his enthusiasm- and it all began with a to-do list. In his sophomore year, Kimberg visited Carter Community School (a charter school behind Duke's East Campus), and this visit unknowingly forged a path for his future. As he ventured through the hallways of this establishment, legal pad in hand, he made note of educational possibilities: the absence of helpful things, and the presence of things not helpful. His determination and energy rendered this list of tasks accomplished after weeks of planning, negotiating, and connecting opportunity with actual change.

Such success did not end with this experience, as Kimberg continued to engage in innovative community service, going on to work with Break Through Collaborative in New Orleans. Through this opportunity, he sparked the ingenuity of a class of rising sixth graders. The keystone moment of his work with this group occurred as these students rewrote Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous "I Have A Dream" speech. "I have a dream that one day, young old, teen or adult, I will solve the problem" is one example of the moving statements penned as a result of Kimberg's gift for seeing beauty in people.

These experiences have led Dan Kimberg to his current position: co-founder and Executive Director of Student U. This program is ingenious in its powerful ability to change education in a sustainable way. Student U connects high school and undergraduate students interested in teaching with Durham middle school students, resulting in a groundbreaking learning opportunity for all. These student teachers are offered a stipend and mentorship throughout their teaching experience with Student U; meanwhile, students are offered the chance to engage in learning that is student-centered and supportive. Classes range from the classics (math, English, science) to the requested (the Art of Cooking and Hip-Hop). The aim of Student U is to support the first class of students through high school and into college, and to continue to do the same for classes of the future.

Sustainable and excellent is this idea, and even more impressive is the energy that Dan Kimberg brings to it. Thanks to him for inspiring us, and raising the bar high for community engagement.

What was most striking to you about our time shared with Dan? What of his success and perspective would you like to apply to our collective work or your work as an individual?